Good and happy Sundays! Today we go with a theme that I know brings many of you to mind. And it is how to choose your foundation or make-up base.
Following this step by step of 5 points, we will find your perfect product easily. Let us go!
COVERAGE
The first thing we have to decide is how much coverage we want on our skin. Do we want to slightly unify the tone (with a BBcream will be enough) or also manage to cover marks or acne spots? Knowing this, we will opt for a light coverage, medium coverage, or total coverage base.
SKIN TYPE
How is our skin? Does it show signs of flaking, tightness etc? Or on the contrary, do we get a lot of glow in our face in a couple of hours?
The world of the makeup has had a brutal growth in the last years, reason why the companies have invested in offering bases for all the types of skin, as well as a packaging that details all the information.
Once you have cleared the point 1 and 2, alone you will have to communicate it to who attends you in order that it gives you to prove the bases that fulfil the requirements.
FORMAT
We have fluid, dense, sticky bases… all of them are valid and can achieve the same finish. If you are in a hurry, I recommend the fluid ones for a quick application, and the stick ones if you want to take it in your touch-up kit or travel bag.
If you choose this last option, try to take product with the brush directly from the stick and then to the face, it will look more natural and you will deposit less product than passing directly the stick to the face.
On the other hand, you can also get a base powder loose or compact, is great for skins that only want a slight halo of matte colour but do not seek coverage.
Finally, let us talk about the famous cushions that have become so fashionable in recent years. They are ideal for carrying in your bag, the product does not spill and usually comes with a built-in applicator, so you do not need to carry anything else. The composition is usually water-based, so be careful if you have very dry skin, it can result in patches and flakes.
TONE
Last point to find our perfect make-up base and one of the ones that brings you the most.
Let us start at the beginning. The aim of the foundation is essentially to unify our shade so that it looks uniform, without redness or colour alterations.
The tone to which we aspire is our colour without such alterations, which we can find in general, in the high area of the forehead, temples, neck and neckline. We will call that colour as C.
So, what we are looking for is:
Alterations (A) + Base (B) = C
Then, when we try a base, we must apply it to the altered area, which is normally in the centre of the cheek. We will spread the product until we deposit the real amount that we are going to use in our day to day, and we will observe if the sum gives the result that we are looking for with the reference zones.
Forget about trying the base on your neck, jaw, or wrist. As these areas do not have the same colour that you want to neutralise in the altered areas, it is useless and will give you the wrong shade.
Once you have it, just apply it from the centre to the edges of the face.
Generally, with this step you already have your tone located, but if you do not finish seeing it clear, I want to share the following tips:
→ If the base is noticeably clear, you will need one or two darker shades.
→ If the base is dark, you will need one or two lighter tones.
→ If the base is dull, slightly greyish, you need a warmer undertone, a more golden point.
→ If the base is very yellow or orange, you need a more neutral or cold base, a pinker point.
Do not worry about the subtones, nowadays commercial bases want to make it easy for us and tend to fit quite well having a neutral subtone for everyone. The most professional brands that have a warm line and a cold line within the same product, mark it in their own name with acronyms such as W(arm) or C(old).
That is, you can find a base in tone 3 (to give an example) with warm subtone, cold subtone or neutral, so that you can find the perfect product for you.
If you want to go into more detail with the colorimetry, in the bases, in the shades of shadows to enhance your eye colour or how to make your teeth whiter depending on your lipstick, leave it to me in comments! It is a subject that fascinates me.
Thanks for reading me,
Janire.
